Winning Solutions for Family Mealtime

Family First in 2010!

It’s a new year! If you’re in the camp of making New Year’s resolutions, good for you. Popular resolutions often include eating healthy, saving money and getting fit, but how about spending more time with your family? Work, school, clubs and keeping up with friends are all necessary parts of life, but family should come first.

Since resolutions are more likely to stick when you have a plan, Hannah Keeley, Total Mom author and host of the public television series HANNAH HELP ME!, put together some goals and tips to help you spend more time with your family:

Resolution: Always Enjoy Dinner Together

Did you know that kids who eat dinner with their families are less likely to misbehave? They are more likely to get good grades, eat healthy foods and be emotionally secure. Make a resolution to eat dinner as a family a few times a week. And don’t stress about putting a gourmet meal on the table – choose quick, easy and affordable recipes like these made with Libby’s Vegetables:

Resolution: Have Family Night Once a Week

Sports, after-school clubs, play dates and sleepovers make it hard to find time to spend with your kids. Dedicate a certain night of the week to all things family. Cook dinner together, eat together, and then do a fun activity. Here are some suggestions my family loves to do:

  • Write and produce a play: Create a stage on the kitchen table and use stuffed animals as the actors. Record it!
  • Create an obstacle course: Couches, cushions tables and chairs all serve a dual purpose!
  • Make a scrapbook together: Gather pictures from a birthday, holiday or special event everyone in the family attended. Assign a group of photos to each person and scrap away! Bind together everyone’s pages and you have a special family keepsake everyone helped create.

Resolution: Trade-in Lazy Habits for Healthy Habits

Family members can feel ignored if someone else is spending too much time watching TV, playing video games or surfing the web. Resolve to spend less time with electronics and more time with family.

  • Swap internet surfing for book reading: When you catch your kids goofing around online, turn off the monitor, pluck their favorite book off the shelf, make some cocoa and read out loud.
  • Swap video games for sports: Instead of playing soccer or football on the screen, grab the balls from the garage and take your kids outside for some fresh air!
  • Swap TV for board games: Everyone’s entitled to their favorite shows, but more often than not the TV gets turned on out of boredom. Instead of reaching for the remote, dust off the pile of board games. You can even create your own!

Stretch Your Grocery Dollar With Total Mom, Hannah Keeley

Hannah Keeley

If you’re feeling the heat at the checkout counter, you’re not alone. The rising costs of everyday staples have moms wondering how they can afford to leave the supermarket each week with enough food to feed their families well. Total Mom author and host of the new PBS series HANNAH HELP ME!, Hannah Keeley, and Libby’s have teamed up to help you stretch your grocery dollar.

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Plan a week's worth of family meals in three easy steps.

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Ever wish you had an extra hour in your day to put a satisfying meal on the table, wash those pesky pots or even play board games? Well, it’s no longer a dream! With these timesaving, Hannah-tested tips you can find the extra time that you need to plow through dinner preparation and clean up, leaving more time for fun with the family!

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Hannah Keeley is a mother of seven, the host of public television series Hannah Help Me! and author of “Hannah Keeley’s Total Mom Makeover: The Six-Week Plan to Completely Transform Your Home, Health, Family, and Life.”